Going to purchase my 1st Aurora this month, going for the 3.5 version. Been hearing about these having an overheat condition that most can't get rid of. Head gaskets?? I know it'* a Northstar baby, is this thing going to be a nightmare to do heads on? Stripped threads in the block? I know these head bolts aren't as long as the V8'*, just haven't had much experience withe the LX5'*. Not many in the Charlotte area that come into my shop. Also, when these engines are taken care of properly, what can I expect for long-term miles? 220K? 250K? Will be doing a complete rebuild for a replacement engine when the original goes... Also, anyone know of Mahle has pisons available for this thing?

Tom

If the head bolt is stripped I suspect the block is the victim of electrolysis. I had a northstar that was over heating under load and found the pulled head bolts. After I removed the cylinder head and cleaned the deck you could see the cancer around the bolt holes. About three of them if I remember correctly. We did have a nutsert kit made just for the northstar engine but as soon as the drill hit the tainted aluminum it crumbled and made way too big of a hole to hold the insert in place. I felt bad for the customer because a good wrench motor was about 6 grand and even the wrecking yards wanted 2 grand for a used one. He decided not to fix it and bought a new Lincon. If it does have cancer I don't see why a good machine shop couldn't dig out the cancer and weld up the hole and drill and tap a new one.

Well I went by to look at it today.. Very clean body, new shoes and grey leather...has some tacky spoiler, but that can be tossed out....see they took off t-stat AND has a new water pump which I'm learning has to have the right impeller design to cool properly....coolant jug is empty, and dude says it gets hot...will have it delivered sunday I hope and burp out the air and hook scanner to it and watch it run for awhile and assess the correct fix. Will keep all posted during this repair.

could be as simple as cleaning the rad fins and condenser. if the PO didnt know you cant leave the thermostat out he probably didnt clean the pollen and crap out of it either. in case you dont know you have to have the thermo in to slow down the coolant in the rad or else it will go too fast to cool. i would take the rad out clean it good from back to front with simple green and a hose, that way you can get to the back of the condenser to do the same